RALEIGH, N.C. — John Edwards, the former U.S. senator and presidential candidate whose
political career was derailed by a sex scandal, is returning to what first thrust him into the
public spotlight: practicing law.

In an interview on Monday, Edwards said he is reuniting with his former law partner, David
Kirby, to form the firm Edwards Kirby.

Edwards, 60, talked enthusiastically about fighting well-heeled defendants on behalf of people
who’ve been wronged.

“I loved it for the decades I did it, and I think it’s what I was born to do,” he said.

Before he launched his successful candidacy for the Senate in 1998, Edwards was known as a
formidable trial lawyer whose meticulous preparation, choirboy appearance and soft-spoken manner
impressed juries and produced a string of big verdicts.

When asked, Edwards quickly said that he doesn’t foresee ever running for office again.

He also said he’s not concerned that his affair and child with Rielle Hunter while his late
wife, Elizabeth Edwards, was fighting cancer might lead juries to be unsympathetic to his
cases.